Meet our Student: Deirdre Spahr

Deirdre Spahr is a MS in Interior Architecture student and recently won first place in the Design with Light competition.

What are you studying at Jefferson?

MS Interior Architecture.

Why did you choose Jefferson?

I thought the program offered unique opportunities for someone coming from a non-design related background to enter the field of interior architecture. I was an elementary school teacher for ten years and have a BA in environmental studies. I want to use my experience towards design learning environments and Jefferson offers an interdisciplinary approach.

Where are you from originally?

Phoenixville, PA.

What is the best part of your studies?

I really enjoy design research and the early process stage of design development.

What’s something people would be surprised to find out about you?

I’ve lived in five countries.

Tell us about a project you’re working on or award/honor you’ve recently received:

We were asked through this project to achieve a quality of light that we had captured in an original photograph. I based my light fixtures design on a photo I took of sunlight passing through an orange silk cloth drying on a clothesline. This image always makes me think of stories about will-o-the-wisps or mysterious floating orbs of light. As part of my design I researched folktales from around the world about these glowing lights at night and was surprised by how many cultures have such stories. I constructed the fixture using reeds, mulberry paper, and a piece of driftwood I shaped, cured, and finished. I was thrilled when my design won first place in the Designing With Light competition. It was a fun project and I am glad to have taken part in the contest as the prize helped me fund a study of interior architecture and adaptive reuse projects in Denmark over the summer through DIS.